End Transmission
by Dragonfly-Moonlight
Summary: The crew of the Kenshin Himura sets out. They send out a final transmission.


The world had changed. Things weren't quite the same way they had been when Sesshomaru had been born. When he'd been a pup, youkai had proven themselves to be far superior than humans. They were faster, stronger, and far more intelligent than what any human could have dreamt of ever being. They had been _free_. They had been able to do whatever they wanted, when they wanted, and go wherever their hearts took them.

Now . . . now things had changed. Over the centuries, the humans had somehow gotten smarter, more clever and had ensnared the youkai race into servitude and, sometimes, outright slavery. Sure, several species of youkai had had human servants but never kept humans as slave. They had always cared for their servants.

"_Captain Sesshomaru,"_ a feminine voice stated, interrupting his reverie. _"You're cleared for launch."_

"Thank you, Admiral Higurashi," he replied, signaling for his executive officer to take the ship out of dock. "All systems are green across the board. Thank you, Star Command."

"_Good luck and god speed."_

The communications channel cleared then shut off. Sesshomaru gazed straight ahead as the docking bays opened, allowing everyone on the bridge a clear view of the stars through the ship's windows. He glanced at his Ex-O.

"Take her out easy, Inuyasha," he stated firmly. "Then take us to Warp 5."

"Roger that," came the reply. "What's our course, Captain?"

"Neptune."

888888888

Admiral Kagome Higurashi watched as _The Kenshin Himura_ exited through the docking bay doors then disappear from sight. As soon as the ship had gone and the doors were closing, she slumped into her chair and allowed herself a bit of a smile. If it hadn't been for a youkai's ability to withstand the gravitational forces, space travel and exploration would have remained out of human reach. They were a sturdy race and intelligent as well. That had been why the Allied Federation Forces had designated the youkais for space travel and deep space work. If it hadn't been for those facts, she'd have felt appalled at the enslavement of such beautiful creatures.

"_The Kenshin Himura_ has cleared the landing bays and has plotted a course for Neptune, Admiral. Everything on board is five by five."

"Thank you, lieutenant," she nodded to the dark-haired girl. "As you were."

The young female had just turned around to face her terminal when the command center door opened to admit another female wearing a white lab coat. Kagome looked at her as she entered.

"Admiral," the woman began, "we have a problem."

888888888

"And we're clear," Inuyasha sighed, leaning back into his chair. "Nothing but smooth sailing from this point, Captain."

"No other ships in the vicinity?" the elder youkai inquired.

"None, Captain," the communications officer, a female youkai named Yura, stated. "All channels are clear."

"Very well . . . All hands may move about."

"Thank you, Captain," Inuyasha breathed, unbuckling himself from his seat. He had just gotten up and was heading for the living space when the captain grabbed his arm. Ahead of him, Kouga, the weapons officer, had just disappeared below deck.

"Inuyasha . . ."

"What is it, Sesshomaru?" he growled softly.

"Are you sure that this is a wise endeavor, otouto?" Sesshomaru asked quietly. "Nothing can be gained from this. He can't offer you much . . ."

Inuyasha trembled slightly as he looked away. It had only been a matter of time before this came up.

"I don't want a family, aniki . . . I don't want any child to grow up being a slave to someone else. This is no life . . . This isn't how I wanted to live . . . being forced to go somewhere or do something because the humans are too weak to survive it . . ." He met his brother's golden gaze. "At least this way I don't have to worry about an innocent life being destroyed the same way ours was. Please, aniki . . . don't stop me from this."

Sesshomaru gazed at him for a while longer then gave him a tiny smile. He released his arm then gave him a slight nod.

"I never would have thought of that, otouto," Sesshomaru murmured. "Pray that they don't find a way to take advantage of this situation."

"I have been . . . Call me if you need me."

Having said that, he quickly took off after the weapons officer.

888888888

"I can't believe they're actually going to be doing _that_ on board this ship," came the chuckle from the science console.

Sesshomaru swivelled his chair around to face the young girl who sat there, noting her lavender eyes sparkling. Not for the first time, he marveled at the crew that Star Command had given him. Two hanyous, his brother Inuyasha and a female bat hanyou named Shiori; four wolf youkai, three males – Kouga, his weapons officer; Ginta, the ship's medical officer; Hakkaku, the main engineer; and Ayame, Hakkaku's assistant – a hair demoness named Yura, and two brothers who had the ability to control thunder and lightning but were in charge of trauma injuries – Manten – and repair and reconnaissance – Hiten. He then shrugged.

"Their decision," Sesshomaru stated. "As long as they're back at their posts when they need to be, who am I to stop them from finding a little bit of pleasure here and there? Besides, I'm sure the Thunder Brothers have been getting it on with the other male wolves on board."

"They are," Yura confirmed, giggling slightly. "They're just more discreet about it than Inuyasha and Kouga are."

"Let's just hope nothing more comes out of it than there needs to be," Sesshomaru intoned. "The last thing we need is to be minus our Ex-O and our weapons officer."

888888888

"Are you sure about this?" Kagome stared at the information two of her scientists – Kikyou and Sango – had handed her.

"More than one hundred percent," Kikyou stated. "There hasn't been a hanyou or youkai living birth in the last two hundred years. The older females are either refusing to mate with a male or are killing their offspring before birth by means of poison. And the males . . ."

"The males aren't even looking at the females," Sango piped in. "They're avoiding them when the females go into heat. Hell, most of the males are partnering with other males for their pleasure . . . The youkai race is dying out, Admiral, and they're doing so willingly."

"Is there a way we can stop this?" she inquired, tapping her fingers on the conference table.

"We've thought about genetically engineering the males so that they can produce offspring," Kikyou began.

"But we've decided against it," Sango finished. "Chances are, they'll find ways to kill the offspring, same as the females."

"So what do you suggest then?"

"We're collecting DNA samples from every viable source," Kikyou replied. "They have to come in for the regular check-ups and physicals anyway so we're gathering our samples that way. The last ones in our station, Admiral, will be the crew of _The Kenshin Himura_. They're due after they get back from Neptune."

"And what are we doing with all of this collected DNA? Cloning?"

"Partly," Sango nodded. "We're also screening potential human females to act as donor mothers. That way we have a few more hanyous around as well. All we need is your permission and we can begin the cloning and the impregnation processes."

"Then make it so," Kagome sighed. She didn't like the sounds of this but she also understood why it had to be done. If the entire youkai and hanyou races disappeared then the human race would be stuck trying to find ways to travel and work in space. The price they paid for becoming reliant on other races. "I'll be sure to send Sesshomaru and his crew your way as soon as they get back. Dismissed."

"Yes, Admiral!" the two women chorused. They saluted then left the conference room. Kagome sagged in her chair.

'Kami, what have we done to ourselves?'

888888888

Arms gripped his waist tightly. His eyes had closed and his breathing had become laboured, the body on top of him rocking at a frenzied pace. When he and Kouga had first made their agreement to be partners, Inuyasha had hated himself for it. It had meant that he couldn't always be the dominant one in the pairing and he had loathed that thought. Now . . . he couldn't imagine a better arrangement.

Within a few moments, both males were spent and had collapsed onto the mattress of Kouga's personal space. The wolf, after catching his breath, kissed his neck.

"This keeps getting better and better," he murmured, causing Inuyasha to chuckle some.

"Yeah . . it does," Inuyasha agreed, keeping his eyes closed. They both needed a shower after that excursion, especially before they had to head back to the bridge. The last thing he wanted was for Sesshomaru to chew them out for smelling like sex and each other. But for the moment, he contented himself with just laying there, in his lover's arms. He had started to fall asleep when Sesshomaru's voice came over the intercom.

"_Inuyasha, Kouga . . . I need you two on the bridge now."_

Pushing himself up, Inuyasha pushed the button that would allow him to speak to his brother.

"What's going on, Sessh?"

"_We're nearing Neptune space. Yura's picking up some faint signals. I need you two up here now."_

"On our way."

He released the button then let out a frustrated sigh. Things always had a way of interrupting his alone time.

"Well, there goes round two," Kouga grumbled. "Bet we can't even take a shower before we get up there."

"Not if he's ordering us to get up there now," Inuyasha replied, reaching for his clothes. Within a space of about two minutes, he had dressed and had made his way to the bridge, Kouga trailing behind him. If their scents bothered their captain, Sesshomaru wasn't saying.

As he made his way to his station, he had noticed Shiori frantically typing something into her terminal. Inuyasha frowned then gazed at his brother.

"What's going on, Captain?" he inquired quietly.

"Part of why we're out this far," came the response. "High command picked up a faint distress signal coming from Neptune's orbit but they wouldn't say by whom."

"So they sent us to see if there was anything to salvage," Kouga stated with a mild bit of disgust.

"Hai," Sesshomaru nodded. "I need you two up here now. Sorry about the . . . interruption."

"We can get caught up on it later," Inuyasha said flippantly as he buckled himself back into his seat. Immediately, he set about trying to find out who could be this far out in space . . .

888888888

"Admiral, we have an incoming transmission coming in from _The Kenshin Himura_," announced one of the communications officers.

"_The Kenshin Himura_?" Kagome frowned, swiveling her chair around. "Put it on-screen."

As soon as she had given the command, the main view screen came to life. The picture had plenty of static, somewhat normal from deep space transmissions, but, instead of the usual vibrant colours from all communiques, the picture came in grey, black, and white. Inuyasha, the ship's executive officer, appeared. Sparks were flying in the background but no one else appeared. The hanyou apparently was having a hard time at his own console.

" _. . . total loss . . . ship . . . damaged . . . repeat . . . this is Inuyasha — . . . star ship . . . Kenshin Himura . . . total loss . . . Kenshin . . . damaged . . . Requesting assistance . . . This . . . final . . . transmission . . . Can't . . ."_

The screen went dead at that moment. Dead and silent. Kagome felt her blood running cold as the commands came from her out of nowhere at all.

"Get a rescue crew out there now!"

"Yes, Admiral."

888888888

As soon as _The Kenshin Himura_'s screen went blank, Inuyasha slumped over his terminal, his eyes lifeless and a tentacle sticking out of his back. Blood gushed from his nose and mouth as he drew his last breath. Around the bridge lay the mangled bodies of the ship's crew, tentacles spearing through their chests, throats and foreheads, each member also drawing their last breaths. Laughter echoed throughout the entire ship.


End file.
